Chapter Text
Connor rushed to put on his clothes, shoving his pants up his legs and shirt onto his body, completely ignoring the other man in the room. He pulled on his shoes and was halfway out the door before turning back towards the man, who, all while Connor had been redressing, was voicing his opinion on Connor leaving.
"This was nice and all but I have to go."
Connor continued out of the room and towards the exit, only a little distracted by the hectic hustle of all the medical personnel around him.
"Connor!"
At the sound of his name, the young man turned to see his boyfriend -ex-boyfriend, Connor reminded himself. Connor all but ran towards Oliver, hugging the older man. He buried his face into his neck.
"You didn't answer my calls, I got worried. Did you see the news?"
Connor shook his head, lifting it up to look at Oliver. "No, what is it?"
It dawned on the man that he wasn't alone with his ex, but standing less than five feet away were his friends and Bonnie. His friends appeared to be spooked, eyes wide and breathing quickened. Connor worriedly looked them over before turning to Bonnie, who didn't look at all shocked.
"There was a fire at Annalise's house. There were two people in the house. Laurel and an unidentified man."
"Who's dead?"
There was a moment of silence between them all, everyone glancing at each other when Bonnie didn't answer, before Michaela spoke.
"Bonnie, who is it?"
Bonnie seemed to be staring at the ground instead of the group. She tilted her head up to look at them. "It's Wes."
All at once, Michaela's breathing started to get shaky and deeper as she backed away slowly. Oliver leaned on the counter, a hand covering his mouth. Asher got a disgruntled look on his face as he fell against a chair. All seemed to be holding back tears, distraught looks on their faces. All except Connor. His eyes were wide, tears slowly streaming down his cheeks, his breathing shallow.
Nobody commented on his face. His eyes told the whole reason behind his emotions, yet nobody said anything. Because nobody noticed him silently mourning the death of his fellow classmate.
After what felt like hours of emotions flowing between the friends, everyone was heading out of the hospital. According to the staff, they couldn't see Laurel until she woke up, so they were all heading home for some sleep before they went back in the morning.
Connor walked with Michaela and Asher through the corridor, following the pair towards the exit.
"Hey, Connor, wait up!" A voice called out.
The man turned to see Meggy almost jogging to catch up with them.
"Could I talk to you for a minute?" She smiled, glancing at the other two. "In private?"
Michaela turned to face Connor, eyes sparkling with a question. 'Should we go or do you need us?'
Connor smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes, and the two noticed but didn't comment, and shook his head. "Don't wait up. I'll text you, okay?"
Although still skeptical, the couple nodded and left, only with a glance back at their friend.
Connor let out a quiet grumble, shuffling his feet. "What is it, Meggy?"
"I saw you come in right before Laurel, Connor." She smiled at him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Look, I know it's annoying to stay at a hospital when you don't want to be there but it's not good for you to be out in pain."
"I'm not-"
"You're in pain, Connor, I can tell. It's okay. The doctors want to keep you here for a little while longer, just to monitor your pain and the-" Meggy paused, just for a moment so Connor could process the information in bits. "They want to make sure your pain level goes down before you are discharged. So just stay. You'll get medicine to help with the pain and don't have to worry about changing your own bandages for a few days, at least."
Connor chewed on his lip. "I don't know."
"Do it for Oliver or Wes or even just yourself. Just, please, stay."
After a minute of complete silence, the law student nodded. "Alright."
Meggy let out a sigh of relief and pulled her hand away from Connor's shoulder. "Thank you." She smiled softly at him. "Let's get you back to your room." She started to lead him back down the hall. "I can get you some of your clothes from your apartment if you don't want the others to know that you have been staying here."
"Thanks." He nodded, running a hand through his hair. "I can't handle them knowing right now. I won't have you keep this secret too long, I promise."
Meggy smiled. "It's alright."
"If we're going to get close like this, I want you to know I don't smile half as much as you do." Connor laughed quietly.
connor : i'm actually not gonna go to your apartment tonight, michaela. i'm at oliver's. don't worry about me.
michaela : Alright, thanks for letting me know.